RepRap Open Source 3D Printing

littleman · May 03, 2011, 11:04:55 PM

http://vimeo.com/5202148

This is a powerful peace of technology which may have a sociological impact.

Rooftop · May 04, 2011, 08:17:53 AM

That is rather brilliant. We have a client who sells the large commercial versions but they (sensibly) won't let me bugger around with them. Someone needs to hook one of these up to a web front end.

werty · May 05, 2011, 06:55:29 PM

I was looking into these a few months ago. I am pretty sure when I get a workshop I will throw down and have something to play with. I miss making things that you can hold in your hands.

A friend of mine was playing around with a 3d scanner the other day. So you can take a scan and just copy it to 3d print. So hopefully his next toy will be the printer. He wants to get into making custom toys!

eurotrash · May 05, 2011, 08:11:23 PM

When I lived in Amsterdam I used to know a guy who made custom toys for women from provided photographs of their men's anatomy - now they can be made at home! Poor guy will have to go back to drug dealing.

werty · May 06, 2011, 07:05:09 AM

Oh man!! I did not even think of that angle of it! He was more interested in like action figures. Hahaha

rcjordan · May 06, 2011, 12:16:52 PM

I have been watching the diy 3d printer market develop for about 2 years now. This one seems to be the most viable currently.

http://store.makerbot.com/makerbot-thing-o-matic.html

>web front end

There are already a few out there. I first ran across them about 2 years ago ...probably on boingboing or etsy if anyone is interested. Most make design-your-own jewelry or whatnots using high end printers. They can print metal materials!

Drastic · May 06, 2011, 01:00:07 PM

Yeah I've look into the makerbot, would definitely like to build one when I devote the time. I guess I'm waiting on needing something I have to make myself.

Didn't know they did metal though?

Rooftop · May 06, 2011, 03:39:20 PM

The DIY ones are cool, but they're a way off the commercial ones.

This is the sort of thing my client is working with: http://youtu.be/7QP73uTJApw Hook one up to a 3d scanner and it's almost sci-fi replicator.

rcjordan · January 17, 2012, 06:41:09 PM

<7 months later>

http://store.makerbot.com/replicator-404.html

The fully assembled makerbot replicator with (new! improved!) bigger output capability apparently wowed CES attendees. $1750.

thesaintv12 · January 17, 2012, 07:41:19 PM

This could be really big. In the future you could deliver a physical product in a digital form. No shipping, damages, warehouse etc.

I have some ideas which I might start getting ready.

rcjordan · January 17, 2012, 07:56:58 PM

Better hurry.

"a new smartphone app that allows the uninitiated to create personalized, usable ceramic objects from a photo"

http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/01/sculpteo-aims-to-be-the-etsy-of-the-3d-printing-world.ars

<added>
>Didn't know they did metal though?

I'm not sure if the makerbots have metal capability. I haven't looked too deeply 'cause I might end up buying one.

Here's one of the big dogs in the 3d end-product biz: http://www.shapeways.com/

Note the "Materials" tab.

grnidone · January 17, 2012, 08:06:12 PM

*thinking out loud*

A piece breaks on your farm equipment -- say a combine.
You could download the specs from the John Deere site, print it out and be up and running in a few hours in stead of a few days.

Or...something like that.

re: sex..

THAT is huge...print out your favorite porn star's body part for your own personal pleasure...

rcjordan · January 17, 2012, 08:16:39 PM

>John Deere site, print it out and be up and running in a few hours in stead of a few days

Any manufacturer who makes big bucks off repair parts (such as JD, GM, etc.) are going to find themselves in a "copyrights" quandary. Essentially, we're going to see the DIY pirating of their aftermarket business. While some would argue that a progressive management policy would encourage a branded community to pursue this, I suspect most manufacturers will go the opposite, hardline route.

The big areas to overcome will be materials and output size. That said, we're already seeing increase capacities at this relatively early stage. AND a whole lotta stuff is already made out of ABS and ABS is a printable plastic.

grnidone · January 17, 2012, 08:22:11 PM

Would there not be a way for the plan to destroy itself when used X times?

So, say you buy a JD widget, and you pay for "2" of them so your plan allows itself to be printed 2 times and then it doesn't work...

Wouldn't that be a way to get around this? Especially if you charge MORE for the printed plan than the actual part. In the middle of harvest, with a crop waiting and the weather on the horizon, a farmer would very well pay extra just to get going faster.

rcjordan · January 17, 2012, 08:44:00 PM

By the time JD parts make it through the dealer network the markup is already staggering. (I had a JD backhoe, so I've felt the pain more than once.) I think JD will maintain control of the distribution channel for the big parts but smaller, simpler items will simply be pirated scan-and-print. In my area we have large-scale farming similar to the midwest. Already, there are independent machine shops who can and do produce repair parts for agribusiness. Some of our megafarms have their own machine shops. I predict these guys will have 3d printers in-house within the year as one job will pay for the printer.